We were feeding our betta the good freeze dried pellets. In about a year, he bloated up so badly. We tried pieces of peas and fasting him - nothing worked. I never read about freeze dried foods for bettas causing constipation and most often times, death. I will definitely feed the meel worms (90% moisture) in the future. We will miss him horribly.

Hello, lwoodson and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry about the loss of your fish. Daphnia is a more healthy alternative to peas. Also, freeze dried foods are fine as long as they are presoaked in water to prevent digestive issues.

Thank you very much dramaqueen. It is so terrible that in on the freeze dried betta pellets package, they do not warn what may happen to the betta. They do not mention soaking the food first, and I'm so sad I never read anything about that with freeze dried pellets. Thank you for your input. When we do obtain another betta, are you quite sure that soaking the pellets before each feeding, will totally prevent the bloated constipated tummy ? I'm just trying to determine if I should go totally to the safer meel worms. Thanks so much

Thank you very much dramaqueen. It is so terrible that in on the freeze dried betta pellets package, they do not warn what may happen to the betta. They do not mention soaking the food first, and I'm so sad I never read anything about that with freeze dried pellets. Thank you for your input. When we do obtain another betta, are you quite sure that soaking the pellets before each feeding, will totally prevent the bloated constipated tummy ? I'm just trying to determine if I should go totally to the safer meel worms. Thanks so much

Soaking them first in tankwater should prevent them from causing constipation. They'll expand to their full size this way, and you can better gauge how many to feed your betta. :)

Thank you for your reply ! Soaking does seem like a 'sure fix' and a preventative measure to ensure no constipation. But I have read other posts somewhere, testifying that that did not help their Betta. Maybe you have to start soaking them 'before' they have an issue. Maybe starting the soaking when they already have an issue, won't correct the problem - I just don't know. Maybe it's just safer to go with the meel worms. Thank you !

Thank you for your reply ! Soaking does seem like a 'sure fix' and a preventative measure to ensure no constipation. But I have read other posts somewhere, testifying that that did not help their Betta. Maybe you have to start soaking them 'before' they have an issue. Maybe starting the soaking when they already have an issue, won't correct the problem - I just don't know. Maybe it's just safer to go with the meel worms. Thank you !

Yea, it's probably most beneficial to only use them soaked their whole lifetime. Otherwise, you have to fix the constipation issue first, before it will help. You can also offer frozen bloodworms as part of their diet too. (thaw first, of course) My guys love them :)

Last edited by Tappy4me; 01-28-2012 at 10:21 AM.
Reason: left something out

Thanks a bunch T4me ! That is def what I will do. The bloodworms sound like a good thing What do you typically feed your bettas ?

I feed Hikari betta bio gold pellets, New Life Spectrum betta pellets, and alternate them. (The Hikari, I only give one or two at a time. The New Life, I'll give 3-4 at a time. They don't expand much.) I offer frozen bloodworms (I get the flats of them) a couple times a week, giving 1-3 per boy, depending on what their figure is looking like. I usually fast my guys once a week.

Not to sound as if you haven't been given great advice, as you have been! Just wanted to toss out that freeze dried food doesn't actually cause bloating, nor constipation.. it's not the freeze dried part of it that does it..

Here is a quote from OFL, part of some information she had given me in regards to this subject (I hope she doesn't mind me sharing!), that may help out in teaching a bit about it..

"(Peas) is safe to use for a short term treatment for constipation....the gastric acid and enzymes in the gut will break it down and will not cause blockage...same is true when you hear people talk about pellet food and freeze dried foods that expand in the gut causing bloat (another myth)....and then recommend soaking food....digestion doesn't work this way for one and usually when a fish bloats with food it is related to ingredients (poor quality-high in grain & grain byproducts) that is causing a pathogenic bacteria gases in the gut to multiply- that in turn expand the gut appearance..... and with the FD foods it is usually due to overfeeding-but these are often empty calories and poor nutrition as the reason they shouldn't be used as the staple diet and oddly enough frozen foods can even be poor nutrition due to cells that break in the freezing process-but this can vary with the company processing...some better than others....

By soaking food you risk leaching of the minerals, nutrients and water soluble vitamins further making the food of poor nutritional value."